Ditching-machine



J. 0. DONALDSON.

DITCHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5. 1920.

UNITED sTATEsL PATENT OFFICE. y

' .mums o; DONALDSON, or srooxrroN, oAnrronNrA.

DITCHING-MACHINE. 'i

. Amaimm.ineamiras,

To allfmtom t may concern.' i 'n Y g Be it known that I, JAMns O.DONALDSON, a citizen of the United States, residingY at Stockton, in thecounty` of San Joaquin, State of California, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Ditching- Machines.; and' I doldeclare the`following'to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the. accompanyingzdrawings, and to thecharactersof refer-'- and insuring that it willrpositively be diverted into afixed. conveyer regardless of the level at which-the device may bedigging. i

A still furthery object ris to soi construct and arrange the parts thatthere will be no rotating shafts etc.vwithin the plane of the cut dirt,so that thelatter cannot abrase and wear ou-t Vthe bearings. f

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple -andinexpensive device, and yet one whichy will be exceedingly effective forthe purposes for which it is designed. f

These objects Iaccomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views.

Figure 1 is a side outline of a wheel mounted driven structure showingmy improved digger mechanism mounted thereto.

on ailine 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan-section taken on a line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the numeral 1 denotes longitudinal and spaced F frame-beamssupported at its forward end by any form of steerable Wheels (not shown)Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross section takeni',iSpecificationof'LettersPatent. Patented Sept. 19271.

1920i seriiaim. 371,356.

Y and toward. rear by aiwheel'or track structure ,2, operativelyconnected (to be driven by any suitable power plant such as a gasengine, mounted on the frame 1 under a` hood 3 thereon.

Ar transverse shaftfl ispivotally mounted in the 0frame 1 .at anysuitable point, to which, inside .the frame beams, are turnablymounted apair of spaced.' bars 5, extending rearwardly from said shaft, beingheld in spaced alinement atsuch reariend by a crossbar-. y y

v At their rear ends the-bars 5 turndownwardly as at 7,'and yhave fixedthereon or formed. integral therewith cutting members 8 having forwardAcutting edges` 9, which slope forward somewhat toward the bot-k y torn,and also converge `toward-each other toward` the bottom, n

f Attheir lower end and extending rearwardly therefrom; is pivoted ahorizontal i.,

cutting blade. lO adapted tok lieat on the bottomof arditch 11 beingdug.

p By means of the cutting members 8 and 10, thesides and bottomroftheditch will; all be positively cut with the forward movement of themachine, and the sides and bottom will be smooth andtrue. y y

Rigid frame beams 12 are fixed to vthe rear ends of the barsp and extendrearwardly therefrom, terminating adjacent a transverse driven conveyer13 of the auger or other suitable form, adapted to convey the dirt bothways, and resting on a cross beam 14 Suspended from the frame 1 whentlhe digging mechanism is in its lowest posiion.

Adjustment rods 15 in alinement with the blades 8 and to the rearthereof, are flexibly fixed to the horizontal cutting member 10, asindicated at 16, and extend upwardly through bosses 17 on the beams 12,there being nuts 18 on the rods on both sides of the bosses, so thatwhen the digger mechanism iS set at different levels, the member 10 maybe adjusted to maintain a truly horizontal position.

Sloping upwardly from the member "10:y

and conforming to the cross sectional shape of the ditchas formed by thecutters S is a runway plate 19, flexibly connected to said member 10 forslight longitudinal movement relative thereto as shown at 20.

The upper end of the plate 19 extends to therear end of the beams 12 andis hung on a transverse shaft 21, and terminates in an apron 22depending downwardly Ybetween the cross beam 14 andthe conveyer 13.

This apro-n is for the purpose of preventing any dirt from fallingbetween said conveyor and beam when the digging mechanism is raised todig at a lesser depth.V Side plates 23 are fixed to the beams 12 anddepend downwardlyto form a trough with the plate 19 above the groundlevel.

4In practice, the dirt dug bythe cutters will be forced up the runway 19with the forward progress of the machine, and into the conveyer 13, butin order to aid the progress of the dirt and to lessen the pullingstrain of raisingvthe dirt all the way, I mount a wheel 24 between thebeams 12, near the upper end of the runway, having transverse vblades orpaddles 25 thereon. These blades are radially fixed on a solid ring 26extending closely between the plates 23, so that no dirt can passthereby and lodge near the center of the wheel and get` in the bearings.The blades 25 terminate short of the runway, andwth the rotationthereofin the proper direction will positively' engage the dirt pushedup onto the runway and discharge the vsame over the top of the runwayand into the conveyer.

The wheel 24 is driven from the pivotal connection 4 of the diggingstructure with the main frame by meansV of a chain or other drive suchas is shown at 27, the power forsaid drive being of course applied atthe shaft 4, since the entire digging mechanism moves about such point.

To raise and lower the digger mechanism, any suitable device may beused, such as cables 28 fastened to the beams 12 and extending to a drum29 mounted on a shaft 30 tu'rnably mounted to the frame 1, such shaftbeing turned by a handwheel 31 suitably positioned. Y

The drum and its shaft are positioned high enough above the frame l sothat the `,digger structure may be raised entirely free yof the ground adesired distance.

`From the foregoing description it will be readily f seen that I haveproduced suchV a device as substantially Afulfils the objectof `theinvention asset forth herein. While this specification set-s forth indetail the present and preferred construction of thede'vice stillinfpractice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to asdo'not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as definedl bythe appended pendent of the digging mechanism` a runway fixed to thedigging mechanism leading from the bottom level of the ditch being dugvto the conveyer, and an apron formed with said runway and dependingdownwardly against the outside of the conveyer, the runway being freefor'vertical movement at the conveyer end thereof.` i

2. A ditching machine comprising a wheel mounted frame, beams pivotallymounted adjacent Vthe forward end thereof and extending rearwardly,extensions projecting downwardly from the rear ends of the beams andsharpened on their forward edges to cut the sides of a ditch, and ahorizontal cutting member mounted between said extensions at their lowerends. In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JAMES O.V DONALDSON.

